15 Greatest Ending Lines In Film History
3. Then I Woke Up - No Country For Old Men (2007)
The ending of Joel & Ethan Coen's Best Picture-winning masterpiece No Country For Old Men is effective because it's so unexpected and sudden.
There's no violent showdown between protagonist Llewelyn Moss and Anton Chigurh, the assassin on his trail. There's no justice, no clear ending, and no real closure. Instead, the audience is treated to the dreams of aging sheriff Ed Bell, whose disillusionment about his career bookends the film.
In a monologue that should've won Tommy Lee Jones an Oscar, Bell tells his wife about this dream where he follows his late father into the night, being led to an unknown location where he knows his father will be waiting. He ends his speech - and the movie - by saying:
“Then I woke up.”
The implication here is that Bell knows that his death is close-by, that when it comes he'll be reunited with his father, and that after everything he's been through he's not entirely sure whether he's ready for it. Then the screen cuts to black, ending the drama on an almighty downer that'll keep you thinking for days.